Michelin Readies for Canadian Tire Motorsport Park's High Stress Circuit

BOWMANVILLE, CANADA (July 17, 2013) – Michelin and its technical partner teams are preparing for one of the major technical challenges of the year as the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) heads to Canadian Tire Motorsport (Mosport) Park, July 19-21, the midway point of the 2013 ALMS season.

“Mosport is a high-risk/high-reward circuit,” said Ken Payne, technical director of motorsports for Michelin North America. “It is a very high speed track and if you have an ‘off’ it can be big.”

“When people talk about race tires they usually focus on tire compounds, but the tire architecture and construction is essential to delivering total performance,” said Payne.

“Our MICHELIN® tire designers and engineers work very hard to create robust constructions to handle the forces at places like Mosport, Road America and Road Atlanta,” said Payne. “With average lap speeds between 135 and 140 miles per hour, these three circuits are the fastest on the ALMS schedule and they are also the three highest cornering load circuits.”

In the GT category, the BMW Team RLL, Corvette Racing, SRT Viper, Risi Competizione Ferrari, CORE autosport and Paul Miller Racing Porsches will all use the MICHELIN tall front tire profiles to help handle the cornering loads on the hilly 2.459-mile, 10-turn circuit.

Dedicated to the improvement of sustainable mobility, Michelin designs, manufactures and sells tires for every type of vehicle, including airplanes, automobiles, bicycles, earthmovers, farm equipment, heavy-duty trucks and motorcycles. The company has earned a long-standing reputation for building innovative premium tires. In addition to tires, the company also publishes travel guides, hotel and restaurant guides, maps and road atlases. Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., Michelin North America (www.michelinman.com) employs about 22,700 and operates 19 major manufacturing plants.